She sensed her father’s infuriation as he crossed the room to a chair by the table, leaning both hands heavily upon its back. He still bore the signs of a strong physique, though years and work had etched their marks. His face was lined, more than it might have been for a man his age. It was a face that took its time before succumbing to the necessity of conversation.
“You’ll have to forgive my lateness.” His voice, used to public speaking, sounded trapped in the office. It took on other nuances too — sarcasm, and flashes of contempt. “As Tyr no doubt informed you, I’ve been in the Chambers all morning. An absurdly unproductive session. Hildur Pek has been kicking up a storm about the ring-net, as if anyone is worrying about sharks right now. Then we had some western lunatic speaking. Stars knows where they got him from, I suppose it’s hard to find literates over there. Practically demanded that we demilitarize the border, and Linus — Linus! — supported him, would you believe.”
“I didn’t come to talk about Linus.”
“No.” Feodor’s face closed. “No, you didn’t, did you. Well, Adelaide? I’ve had to leave a press conference because Tyr informs me you’ve materialized in my office. I can’t just drop everything to attend to your whims.”
“Here you are though,” she said.
The look he shot her was half fury, half despair. Their mutual dependency filled the air, hanging like a veil between them. Feodor, she knew, would never be able to accept Adelaide’s defection from the family. Whereas Viviana, much as she might pretend otherwise, had not been sorry to lose her only daughter. The rift had come as a relief to them both.
“You made me go to that hideous execution last week,” she said. “Even though I hated it. Even though watching it made me sick.”
“Stars, don’t bring that up. I’ve heard enough about the damn execution for one day.”
“I want the keys to the penthouse.”
“Is that a property request?” he said sardonically.
“No, Daddy, it’s not.” It was not an affectionate term, and she knew its power. The first tinges of colour crept into Feodor’s cheeks.
“Then why would you ask for the keys when you know I have handed them over to the committee?”
“All of them?”
Feodor’s eyes flicked to the window-wall before resettling upon his daughter.
“Except for the set which must have been with Axel, yes, all of them.”
“Don’t say it like that.”
“Like what?”
“As if he’s not coming back.”
“I’m sorry, Adelaide.”
“Stop it.”
“It’s been over six weeks. We’ve consulted the most eminent Tellers.”
“So?”
Feodor looked sombrely at his hands. She rallied.
“There must be another set. You would never have given up the only one.”
His heavy eyelids lifted. “Accuse me of falsehoods if you wish. The keys to the penthouse are with the investigating committee, as requested when we reported Axel’s disappearance. I expect Hanif will retain them until the investigation is closed. Until then, no one is allowed access, not even family.”
“You’re lying.”
Feodor gave a faint smile. She cursed herself silently, knowing she had tripped on the most obvious of wires, unable to retract her step. She should have been used to the lies. It was a Rechnov trademark; they talked themselves into belief.
“Look,” she persisted. “The penthouse is one of our properties. There’s always another way in. That’s one of grandfather’s tricks.”
“Oh, be reasonable. Even if I indulge your bizarre conspiracy theories, as if I have time to play games about locked doors — do you not think that Hanif will have accounted for such a possibility? If he wishes to seal off the penthouse, I guarantee it will be guarded by more than a key.”
“And we both know you could get past such obstacles, if you wanted to.”
Her father gave her a haughty glance.
“Are you suggesting I break the decrees of the Council I serve?”
“I’m suggesting you put your son before your work.”
The nerve above his eye began to twitch. “There is such a thing as integrity, Adelaide. But let’s forget the practicalities for a second and talk about the premise. What in Osiris do you expect to achieve by going through Axel’s belongings? The last time you were there—”
“Precisely.” She leaned forward. “It’s months since any of us have been inside. I need to see what’s there, if there’re any clues to what happened. I’d have thought you would want to see too.”
“I’ve no desire to visit.” Feodor shook his head. “It’s a cursed place.”
“Of course. I forgot.” Her own anger was growing. “It’s an embarrassment to you. My brother is an embarrassment.”
The colour flooded Feodor’s cheeks.
“Do you think you are the only one suffering here?” His voice rose. Adelaide swallowed. “Have you considered your mother for one second? Have you spoken to her once since the Service of Hope? You have no idea what it’s like to lose a child. And if you carry on the way you are I don’t suppose you ever will. You might learn something from this tragedy, Adelaide, and address your own lifestyle, instead of attacking other people’s.”
She was on her feet before she knew it. “Don’t talk to me about my actions! You’ve had nothing to do with me or Axel for years. That’s the way we all wanted it, that’s the way we got it.”
“Because of your own stubbornness, Adelaide!”
“You pushed us out — after Axel — after the incident—”
“I’m not going to dredge this up. You renounced the family name. Your grandfather’s name. And not just you, you had to drag Axel along too—”
“I didn’t drag him anywhere. You wanted him examined. You were going to do tests. We had no choice!”
They glared at one another. Feodor’s knuckles clenched white on the back of the chair. She fought for control of her voice.
“I’ve come here to ask you to help. Axel is my twin. I have to know. Why can’t you see that?” She willed him to understand. To delay a verdict she did not want to make.
“There are qualified people investigating what happened. And I think, if we are honest, we both know what they are going to find out.”
“No, we don’t.”
“Adelaide—”
“They never found his body.”
“The earth is full of unburied souls.” Feodor lifted his hands: a gesture of resignation. “Listen to me. It does no good to mull over these things. And besides, this is a delicate situation. Decorum is required. There are procedures. You must not — you will not — start making ripples. Hanif has everything in hand. He will inform me the moment—”
“Please. I won’t take anything, I won’t touch anything, I just want to look—”
“He will inform me the moment new information arises. I am sure it will not be long.”
She fell still. On the Neptune o’screen, the forked tail of a fish disappeared beyond the edges of the frame. She reached out a finger, tracing its exit. Nebulous ideas, suspicions that had led her to this day and this request, tightened in her head and bound.
“How can you be so confident?” she murmured.
Feodor shifted his weight, flexing and refolding his hands around the back of the chair. “Adelaide. Perhaps this is difficult for you to understand, having been so close to your brother, but this — disappearance. In some ways, it is not, perhaps, entirely unexpected. The shock is no less, but the mind… the mind can sometimes anticipate, without knowing…”
Adelaide’s chest constricted with outrage. “Are you trying to imply that he—”